Urgh!! (Feeding in NICU)

[sunnylove]

From the start, everyone said the hardest part of the NICU journey would be feedings. AND IT IS. My son is driving me nuts because he is 38+4, weighs 7lbs 4ozs, has been off of oxygen since 33 weeks (was born at 26+3) and sucks at eating. The problem is that he just doesn't wake up. So instead of feeding every 3 hours, doctors said we could give him 4 hours, and feed him whenever he wakes up within that hour. It's worked for a little bit, but now he's not waking up after 4 hours either. They increased his feeding (if he goes 4 hours) and I feel like it's too much (96ml). It is SO frustrating because he was doing much better 1.5 weeks ago, than he's doing now. He rarely eats one full bottle a day.

Any advice?

 

[lanaross]

I am not sure if it helps but I completely hated those scheduled feedings in NICU. The second we brought Greyson home, he dropped their schedule. And I mean "the second". He now eats all over the map, sometimes a lot, sometimes a little, sometimes every hour, sometimes 4 hours+. I know he is getting enough since he is increasing his weight ahead of doctors estimates.
Does your LO gain weight daily? Then he is getting enough I would think. Is feeding his only issue?

Oh and can I just wow, good weight at 7.4!!!

 

[melissa84]

My daughter also wanted to sleep instead of eat and had to be on a feeding tube her whole stay in the NICU. She also had a hard time digesting food in her tummy. One thing the nurses there taught me was to change her diaper before feeding so she will wake up and then it was a little easier to get her to eat.

 

[rbourre]

My daughter was a horrible eater too. It took her about 5 weeks to get it. It was a lot easier once she came home and we didn't have to force it on her. I ended up telling the nurses that she ate the whole bottle and just dumped the last bit out if it was less than 10ml left. She was putting on weight every day and they never knew the difference. I hated when they would put the last few ml in the feeding tube because it always happened when we would get to about 7 out of 8 feeds in a day all by bottle. They said she needed to have 8 in a row before they would start thinking about discharge.

 

[sunnylove]

My daughter was a horrible eater too. It took her about 5 weeks to get it. It was a lot easier once she came home and we didn't have to force it on her. I ended up telling the nurses that she ate the whole bottle and just dumped the last bit out if it was less than 10ml left. She was putting on weight every day and they never knew the difference. I hated when they would put the last few ml in the feeding tube because it always happened when we would get to about 7 out of 8 feeds in a day all by bottle. They said she needed to have 8 in a row before they would start thinking about discharge.

That is too funny about dumping the remaining milk out! But yeah, honestly, a baby is going to eat what she's going to eat and her discharge shouldn't be based so strictly around taking exactly this amount. I think NICU's need to get to a place where they don't force babies to eat every 3 hours and they are much more flexible. I know it's annoying for the nurses because they can't schedule their whole day/night down to the last minute, but I think ad libbing needs to be done more in NICUs. There is a huge NICU in our state and they have adopted the protocol to just feed bigger babies on demand. These babies are shown to have shorter NICU stays. I don't know why they all can't do that! My son is gaining weight great, and if he fed on demand, I think he would continue to gain great. But he has to get to 90% before they will even remotely consider discharge.

He had a great day the last 24 hours. Out of 6 bottles, he took 5 full feedings!!! It was his first time to do that! After that though, he took all but 4ccs, then he slept through his next feeding, then he only took 15ccs, then only half his bottle. So he's doing better (he's awake more!) but he's not consistent yet.

 

[Srrme]

My daughter was a horrible eater too. It took her about 5 weeks to get it. It was a lot easier once she came home and we didn't have to force it on her. I ended up telling the nurses that she ate the whole bottle and just dumped the last bit out if it was less than 10ml left. She was putting on weight every day and they never knew the difference. I hated when they would put the last few ml in the feeding tube because it always happened when we would get to about 7 out of 8 feeds in a day all by bottle. They said she needed to have 8 in a row before they would start thinking about discharge.

That is too funny about dumping the remaining milk out! But yeah, honestly, a baby is going to eat what she's going to eat and her discharge shouldn't be based so strictly around taking exactly this amount. I think NICU's need to get to a place where they don't force babies to eat every 3 hours and they are much more flexible. I know it's annoying for the nurses because they can't schedule their whole day/night down to the last minute, but I think ad libbing needs to be done more in NICUs. There is a huge NICU in our state and they have adopted the protocol to just feed bigger babies on demand. These babies are shown to have shorter NICU stays. I don't know why they all can't do that! My son is gaining weight great, and if he fed on demand, I think he would continue to gain great. But he has to get to 90% before they will even remotely consider discharge.

He had a great day the last 24 hours. Out of 6 bottles, he took 5 full feedings!!! It was his first time to do that! After that though, he took all but 4ccs, then he slept through his next feeding, then he only took 15ccs, then only half his bottle. So he's doing better (he's awake more!) but he's not consistent yet.

I am guilty of doing the whole "dumping the remaining out" too. My boys were fine and gaining weight wonderfully, and I don't think a baby has to eat the SAME amount during EVERY feed.

 

[ttc126]

My husband was seriously considering doing the whole dumping out thing. Its beyond frustrating when you feel like they are just force feeding baby arbitrary amounts. I know they have their calculations etc but I seriously disagree with having to be SOOO strict on eating certain amounts at certain times.

I convinced my son's drs to let me try breastfeeding on demand for one day. They agreed as long as he gained weight but said we had to go back to bottles and tubes if he didn't. Well he did really well during the day and gained an ounce. So I literally slept in my car in the hospital parking lot (no rooming at the nicu) and fed him every 2 hrs. When the drs found out what I did so I could feed him and get the damn tube out they tried to find a room for me for the next day/night. None were available so they let us take him home after 38 hrs of no tube feedings rather than 48...

I'm so sorry. I feel your frustration. Its ridiculous how the feedings are treated for feeder/growers and bigger babies. Sending lots of prayers your way. I am sure your little one will be home very soon!